Filling In Nicely

Jim Beauchamp[1], wearing the number he was issued when 24[2]suddenly needed to be ripped off his shirt, indeed did some fancy pinch-hitting as a 1973 National League Champion Met, landing on base at a .325 clip when called off the bench and into action by Yogi Berra. Ken Boswell lost his second base job to Felix Millan that same season but he, too, did his part to inspire the ’74 yearbook’s caption writer, belting a pair of pinch-homers in a reserve role. You’d think that two guys who combined to start all of 21 games in 1973 wouldn’t be smiling all that much. But if you look closely, you might recognize the setting for this photo as the Oakland Coliseum. Beauchamp and Boswell were pinch-hitters on a World Series team. Jim Beauchamp’s final appearance in the big leagues, for that matter, was in that Fall Classic, the only one in which he played.Knowing that, I ask you, why wouldn’t you smile?

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